ALLEN PARK -- The Lions are in Napa, Calif., now, just hours away from meeting up with the Raiders for the start of a two-day joint practice.
The two teams are meeting in the days leading up to Friday's preseason game, which has the 10:30 p.m. ET slot. When Lions coach Matt Patricia saw Oakland appear on the schedule, he picked up the phone and called Jon Gruden, a man he's come to know mostly through TV.
Patricia wanted joint practices in his first year in Detroit. That's why he scheduled two sets of them, with the second coming Aug.